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Source Description

This Psalter, with an additional Office of the Dead, was created in the late thirteenth century in northeastern France. A large quantity of Franciscan saints in the calendar and litany, as well as marginal imagery of them, suggests that the original owner had a strong affinity for that order. The manuscript was likely begun for one patron but finished for another, given a change in scribal and artistic hands and the addition of heraldry from Psalm 109 onward. Arms for the Fieschi family, as well as a birth notice in the calendar, identify the manuscript's first owner as Leonardo dei Fieschi, a Genoese nobleman (d. 1331). Among a multitude of drolleries, the manuscript contains a number of unusual marginal vignettes depicting SS. Francis, Clare, and Elisabeth of Hungary. One image of St. Francis (fol. 139v) is heavily worn, which may be evidence of devotional touching by the manuscript's owner.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
15540
label
Fieschi Psalter
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
8
Source metadata
id
15540
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Fieschi Psalter
description
This Psalter, with an additional Office of the Dead, was created in the late thirteenth century in northeastern France. A large quantity of Franciscan saints in the calendar and litany, as well as marginal imagery of them, suggests that the original owner had a strong affinity for that order. The manuscript was likely begun for one patron but finished for another, given a change in scribal and artistic hands and the addition of heraldry from Psalm 109 onward. Arms for the Fieschi family, as well as a birth notice in the calendar, identify the manuscript's first owner as Leonardo dei Fieschi, a Genoese nobleman (d. 1331). Among a multitude of drolleries, the manuscript contains a number of unusual marginal vignettes depicting SS. Francis, Clare, and Elisabeth of Hungary. One image of St. Francis (fol. 139v) is heavily worn, which may be evidence of devotional touching by the manuscript's owner.
provenance
Acquired by Leonardo dei Fieschi (d. 1331), Genoa, ca. 1290-1331. Acquired by Léon or Paul Gruel, Paris, ca. 1900-1910; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
date
ca. 1275-1300
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
illuminated manuscripts
imageCount
8
pageCount
8
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
18
height
12.9
dimensionsRaw
Folio H: 7 1/16 × W: 5 1/16 in. (18 × 12.9 cm)
Source extras
style
Gothic
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med
ink and pigments on medium-weight parchment bound between beech boards covered with dark brown leather
creator_ids
8478
6505
collection_ids
MED
MSS
exhibition_ids
2339
386
2289
2831
121
2390
174
165
3316
3663
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
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7f432fb01981aef9
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no
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no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
72965a2a876ae0c5
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no
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no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
a088e8e8f2f83b35
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no
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no
seq
4
type
photo
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09ac2ebf4a82af38
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no
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no
seq
5
type
photo
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f61f213da7611aa4
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no
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no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
c2e34429013402a1
hasOcr
no
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no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
fd57c24ecbd61aff
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
8
type
photo
mediaId
6d7627607355036b
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no